Dunhill vintage lighters have been a staple of lighter collecting since the 1920's. Probably the most famous of all the high end lighter companies, Dunhill is the king of lighters as works of art. Originally Alfred Dunhill made high quality accessories for automobiles for the wealthy, and then they began getting into smoking accessories such as pipes, and tobaccos. It was an easy to see that there was a great need for a high quality and reliable lighter.
From their first introduction of the Dunhill Unique in the early 1920’s, Dunhill became the company that the wealthy came to when they wanted something really special. Dunhill made lighters in many finishes and metals, including sterling, 9kt, 14kt, 15kt, 16kt and 18kt gold and many of them incorporated watches, pipe tampers, and cigar cutters. Many were also enameled by the most famous enamels of Germany and France.
During the Deco period, Dunhill produced some of the finest enameled pieces known. Dunhill enlisted the famous Namiki enamellers of Japan to make striking examples of this famous Japanese process, while continuing to be at the cutting edge of lighter innovation. They began producing lighters in the shape of guns, golf balls, hunting horns, walking canes and introduced the Dunhill Silent Flame lighters during the late 1940’s.
During the 1950’s, Dunhill began producing a new type of table lighter called the Aquarium. These were made from blocks of lucite which were carved from the inside and filled in with paint in an aquarium motif. Soon Dunhill used other motifs such as an aviary and hunting scenes.
With the advent of butane lighters, Dunhill quickly capitalized on this new system with their line of Rollagas lighters which continue even today.